Garden in the Winter? Huh?

When I met my husband's Pappa, he grew two crops in his garden. Tomatoes in the summer and BIG red onions in the winter. His red onions were planted in the fall and harvested in the spring. How was this possible? Well one of the advantages of living in the southern San Joaquin Valley is having a long summer and a mild winter. While the rest of the country is putting their garden to bed and preparing for snow, we are planting a garden. Many vegetables will actually do better planted in the fall. Summer is great for tomatoes and peppers, but fall is the time to plant peas, carrots, beets, onions, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, spinach, lettuce, radishes and the list goes on. Anything that likes cooler weather can be planted August through September for a late fall / winter harvest. To identify the best time to plant vegetables, I visited the local Agricultural Extension Office and found a planting/harvest guide. Since the soil is already warmed up, the seed tends to germinate more quickly too. Another plus is fall planted vegetables seem to avoid several insect pests.

The disadvantages of wanting to plant a fall garden? Most stores that sell seed and plants in the spring will not carry seed or plants in the fall so you will need to order seeds on line. Find a company you like and order to your hearts content. Personally I like to order from Sustainable Seed Co. They only sell seed that is reproducable and grown in the USA. You can visit them here: Sustainable Seed Co.

If you decide to try succession gardenng, you will also need to be diligent in adding compost, fertilizer and other soil amendments to your garden since all that plant life will really drain the nutrients from your dirt. But don't make the mistake of thinking that just because its cooler, you won't need to keep the weeds in check. I made that mistake one winter and grew a fine crop of chickweed and grass with only a few lettuce plants surviving.

So if you have a mild winter season where you live, join me in planting a fall/winter garden and continue enjoying fresh vegetables into the cool months. Here are pictures of my garden as of yesterday.



2 kinds of cabbage, beets, green onions,
carrots, lettuce, radishes and leeks.



Foreground planted with bok choy,
broccoli, spinach and lettuce. I will
add onions and radishes later.





 The compost bin, compost pile
and brush pile that keeps the

lizards happy.







Left over of summer garden
with bug killers/weed eaters.